


Plummet as I Sing

by FrostedHolly



Category: Naruto
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Getting Together, If You Squint - Freeform, M/M, doctor kabuto to the rescue, i guess ??, kimimaro is confused, orochimaru is here to help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27906490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostedHolly/pseuds/FrostedHolly
Summary: Kimimaro struggles with a deadly illness day in and day out. However, he's begun to feel strange new things in regards to Lord Orochimaru.In search of answers, he asks the man in question if he's able to make sense of it. Luckily for him, his Master has the answers to everything.
Relationships: Kimimaro/Orochimaru (Naruto)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Plummet as I Sing

**Author's Note:**

> yall shouldve seen this one coming really
> 
> if youve read my previous authors notes, you might know that my first encounter with naruto as a series came in the form of a christmas present— and what got me into the series was none other than obito uchiha 
> 
> however, as i began collecting the volumes in order, i read about an interesting character with an ability so unlike any of the others i had seen that he completely stood out to me. its kimimaro. kimimaro was that character. i actually learned how to draw the human body using this character. the way he can manipulate bones is so cool man 
> 
> also i feel the need to say that i am indeed still working on chapter 2 of Felina i promise im so so sorry that its coming out late but it IS coming 🥺💕
> 
> anyways enjoy this short ❤️

There's a cloth over the upper half of his face, effectively covering his eyes and rendering him blind. Kimimaro comes to with an aching in his head, and he has to scramble for thought in a once well-collected brain.

He's forced to rely on auditory cues. Medical machines whirr and beep in an otherwise silent room. His jaw is clamped down on two thick plastic tubes as far as it'll go, untouched by the cloth. The sides of his jaw ache as the tubes press against it, not completely able to close his mouth. He takes a breath of sterile air and a hint of death, and then he understands where he is again.

"We can unhook those, since you're awake now," Kabuto's voice, nothing short of caring patience, barely registers in his eardrums. "Lord Orochimaru would be pleased if you could meet him today."

Footsteps emerge, and a machine beeps quicker with the speeding of Kimimaro's heart at the mention of his Lord.

"Lord Orochimaru wants to see me?" He rasps once the tubes are nothing short of ripped from his jaw, attempting to hide the hankering feeling in his heart. How is he expected to stay still, to stay calm, when Kabuto just relayed to him such a thing?

"Yes, he does. You _are_ his favorite vessel, after all," the doctor provides, no particular emotion in his words this time. Then there's a pause, Kabuto's hands relinquishing their movements on the white cloth over Kimimaro's eyes, before he states, "your heart rate's rising. Are you in any pain?"

Kimimaro bites his tongue, mouth feeling strange as he regains the freedom to move it. "No," he mutters, a bit nervous, "I'm just a bit excited to see our Master today."

He's forced to stare at the ceiling of the clandestine cave when Kabuto uncovers his eyes. The doctor then moves on to the IV in his arm, fiddling with the corresponding machine by his bed before tugging it from his skin. Eventually, he speaks, insensate, "so I see."

It takes just a few moments before he's completely unhooked from the machines, and he chooses to stay silent. Instead, he turns his head to observe Kabuto— a small motion his body allows, even in the midst of fighting an episode of sleep paralysis. The doctor is writing something down on a clipboard, pen wiggling with the movement as he leans on a table at the other end of the room. Kimimaro waits patiently until he regains full control of his ill body.

By the time he can move freely, Kabuto is long gone. He didn't mention his plans for the day before leaving, so he must believe that Kimimaro is healthy enough not to need him until later in the night. Although Kimimaro doesn't trust his own body, he trusts Kabuto's judgement as an absolute. He can go one day without having the doctor follow him around if Kabuto thinks he can, too. 

Kimimaro sits up slowly, ignoring the swimming in his head and sickness in his stomach, clutching the bedsheets to stabilize himself. What once used to be swift and quick has now become rough and sluggish as he moves to stand, gaining his footing and exiting the medical ward. His heart is set on only one place.

He enters the long corridor, incandescent candles that light his path passing one after another as he walks to his Master's chambers. Along the way, he passes Tayuya, who stares at him with poorly concealed shock. Perhaps it's because he's walking so stiffly, a gait that's so unlike him. Perhaps it's because he's walking at all. He pays his ally little mind. 

When he reaches the door to his Lord's room, he raps on the thick wood, once, twice, thrice before he's allowed in with a call. Upon crossing the threshold, his nostrils are attacked with the stench of decay. It's enough to make any other person flinch back, but he's known this smell long enough to withstand it. It reminds him of his dear Master. 

"Kimimaro, my sweet," his Lord sings from his throne, already stepping down to meet him at the doorway. "You're looking well."

"I feel well, Master," Kimimaro bows, an act of obeisance, cheeks warming at the clear care in his fair Master's speech. The curious feeling that makes his heart race arises again, rivaling the illness in his stomach. It's the feeling he's been meaning to ask his Lord about for some time now. He's not sure if it's a reaction caused by the curse mark— perhaps because he's so close to the caster, it causes a tingling sensation in his center? He'll allow his Lord to speak first, because he's been called for something undoubtedly important. Maybe at the end, if there's enough time for him before his dismissal, he shall ask.

"Something seems to be troubling you, my dear," Lord Orochimaru's voice is a lifeline, allowing him to grasp back into reality, away from the drifting current of his thinking. "What's the matter? Is it, perhaps, something _I_ can help you with?"

"It is," Kimimaro states, losing all inhibitions in the face of his divine Master. He speaks, however, with no sense of urgency, "though, are you sure you'd care to hear about it now? I'm certain there are more pressing matters you wanted to see me here for."

"Of course I want to hear it." Orochimaru cups Kimimaro's cheek with a chilled, bony hand, just like the day they met, "the other matters can wait. You're very precious to me, Kimimaro. If I can help you gain a little peace of mind when it's been so troubled, then I would gladly do so." Then, the hand is retracted, but to Kimimaro the touch never leaves. The touch lingers, beautiful and welcomed. 

"It's a most strange feeling I've been experiencing as of late that confuses me," Kimimaro explains, encouraged by his Master's words. He locks eyes with the glowing yellow irises of Orochimaru as he finds the words to explain just what he feels, misunderstanding himself. "It happens only when I'm around you, or when I think of you."

His Lord's eyes go warm, not so sharp with devilish intent anymore, as he moves a hand to massage his fingers into Kimimaro's scalp, "and what exactly is the experience that comes with this feeling?"

"It doesn't hurt," Kimimaro clarifies, almost losing himself in the sensation of the gentle rubbing atop his head. "This area just above my stomach tingles, and there's a feeling in my chest that's as if a bird is attempting to take flight from within me."

Everything in his dear Lord's chambers is eerily silent. This fact is magnified by the lack of speech from the man himself. They stand in silence as his Master's hand stops against his skin— and Kimimaro nearly has to put in the effort to suppress a whimper— and continues again, as if remembering that he was even doing it in the first place.

There's a chuckle. The sound is like music, soprano notes on a piano, to Kimimaro. Hesitantly, he continues, confused by Lord Orochimaru's amusement, "do you know what this is? Has it anything to do with my illness?"

"No, my child, it does not," Orochimaru muses with a healthy lilt in his voice. Kimimaro falls for the sound. "This problem is one that lies elsewhere."

Kimimaro tilts his head just slightly, not enough to stop his Master's ministrations. At that, Orochimaru gives a hum.

"It seems you've fallen in love, my dear."

These words, as soon as they're muttered, are lost on Kimimaro. He has never heard the word 'love' be used in such a way. His insides do a small dance at the contemplativeness of his Master's face, because he knows what it means. Then, Orochimaru's hand untangles from his hair and travels down, down to hold his hand, which is limp by his side. He locks their fingers, and remains silent as Kimimaro's own digits struggle to catch up. 

He finds that he doesn't much mind his Lord's silence, if this is what he's granted. He feels at home— something full, something complete. A feeling of belonging that he's never had, not even with his own clan. It's a feeling more intense than that of which he'd felt when his Lord had saved him from his kin's battered and slaughtered corpses. He finds that not even the drugs that Kabuto administers him can compare to the feeling of being held by his divine Master.

"What does this make you feel?" Orochimaru coos, eyes all over him as he awaits the answer. There's no rush here though. His Lord had mastered the art of patience long before Kimimaro had even been of this earth. 

"As if I'm at home," Kimimaro answers, prickling with the irritation of not having a definitive conclusion. There's no clear word to _name_ what it is he's feeing. "Like a part of me has awakened that I never knew existed within me before."

His hand is squeezed gently before he's let go. He finds himself greatly missing the sensation, but he doesn't disrespect his Master by deliberately seeking it out. 

"I understand, darling," his Lord speaks to him gently, intimate in a way Kimimaro's only seen between lovers when he'd looked into the wrong hotel room on an assassination mission some time ago. Then the intimate moment has passed, and his Master turns away. There's a strangely unpleasant sensation that squeezes his lungs as he witnesses his Lord create distance between them. 

Orochimaru then turns to sit atop his throne once more, two giant stone serpents encircling him, and speaks with the same tone he uses when addressing the others of the sound five, "what I called you here for originally is now irrelevant."

That's a dismissal if Kimimaro's ever heard one. The pressure on his lungs intensifies at the realization. However, when he looks into Lord Orochimaru's glinting eyes, he sees the remnants of— what was the word?— _love_ aimed at him. Their gazes linger until he finds it appropriate to take his leave. His chest doesn't feel as compressed anymore.

He feels quite good today. Maybe Kabuto's treatment is beginning to pay off?

He thinks that, as he walks down the long corridors, he'll take a walk outside and observe the nature of the forest when the sun rises, to hear the melodies of the waking birds. Perhaps he'll even train today, and spend some time with his teammates because he's quite missed their company. He supposes his good mood is partially due to the exchange with Lord Orochimaru.

For the first time in a long while, the world spinning on its axis doesn't hurt so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, i hope you enjoyed. thank you for taking the time to read this one 🥰
> 
> point out any typos or inconsistencies. or just drop a comment i love reading them 💖


End file.
